The Distance
by pneumothorax
Summary: Ray Barnett's life is turned upside down when he meets an attractive female patient who he becomes involved with little by little. The more he discovers about this young woman and her situation, the harder it is for him to step away.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone! Okay, well, this is my first story, so don't hate! It's about Dr. Ray Barnett. He meets a young woman who is a patient of his, and he begins to discover more and more about her. The more he discovers, the farther he lets himself get involved with her and her life. Now, usually, I am a huge Reela fan, but I decided to just do something a little different. In this piece, Neela and Ray are just friends. Also, this is set before Abby has her baby; it may be slightly AU at times, but just so it all fits together. Anyway, this is just a short introduction chapter - leave me feedback, pleeeease! Hope you like it! )

Chapter 1 – The Morning

Ray Barnett groaned as his alarm clock buzzed tactlessly, jerking him from his unconscious reverie. He reached over to slam the snooze with his fist, but instead knocked the clock from his nightstand, causing it to produce a loud and even more tactless crash which also failed to put a cease to the buzzing. With a sigh, Ray rolled to the edge of the bed and stretched his arm to reach for the clock. Naturally, it was just out of his reach, and as he tried to push himself close enough to grab it, he accidentally slid off the mattress and onto the carpet, his shoulder scraping against the nightstand as he slid. "God… dammit," he muttered, unable in his exhausted state to even curse coherently. He turned the clock off and set it back on the nightstand, then climbed back under the misplaced blankets and assured himself that he would relax only two minutes more.

Needless to say, Ray sat up in bed with a start seventeen minutes later when he realized that he had fallen back into a deep sleep, rather than just having stretched his legs for a minute or two while resting his eyes. "Goddammit!" he complained loudly, more coherently this time. He dove to the foot of his bed, not bothering with the formality of throwing back his blankets and taking the long way around it. Stumbling to the floor, he kicked the blankets entangled with his ankles aside and rushed for the bathroom. He flicked on the radio and glared at his own bloodshot eyes in the mirror before stripping out of his boxers and white tank top, jumping into the shower stall, and turning on the water. "Goddammit!" he shouted, more at himself than anyone or anything, for having forgotten the initial three seconds of icy water before he could get accustomed to any warmth in his morning. After the warm water began to flow from the showerhead, Ray barely hesitated before turning it up as hot as it would go, welcoming the burning feeling on his skin. He grimaced to think of the weather he would meet outside on his way to work. _I hate Chicago so much_, he complained inwardly.

A mere two minutes later, he jumped back out of the shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and rushed back into the bedroom. Ray got dressed as quickly as he could and, deciding to forego making coffee this morning in favor of being only mildly late to the hellhole that he knew as Cook County General Hospital, rushed out the door a mere eight minutes after having awakened.

As he did most mornings, Ray hopped the El train to work and, by some miracle, did not experience any outstanding delays in the area of public transportation on this particular day. It was almost as though he would be on time for work – on time being a fashionable nine to eleven minutes tardy, that is.

Rushing off the El and down the crowded steps, Ray pulled his trenchcoat tighter around him, unhappily glaring at the gray sky above. As a reminder to watch where he was going, Ray's feet lost their footing momentarily and he slipped off of the last step of the stairway onto the ground, which was moderately icy. Grabbing the handrail next to him for support, he muttered a reproachful, "Goddammit…" and went on his way.

A short distance down the street, Ray checked his watch and, realizing that he was just slightly later this morning than usual, relaxed a little. His pager began beeping on his waistband, and he snatched it up. The ER. _Who else?_ Ray rolled his eyes and deliberately slowed his pace, determined to make Jerry wait. He had been tricked into rushing into the department one too many times by now, and plus, if there was some major trauma, he would surely hear sirens.

Ray passed a newsstand, several storefronts, a restaurant, and countless people. A mother stood on the sidewalk with a baby in her arms, looking annoyed at the world and desperate for a cup of coffee. Two pretty girls wearing hoodies emblazoned with Greek symbols stumbled towards the El station, their eyes tired and their gait unsteady, obviously after a long night of partying. An attorneyish-looking man holding a coffee to go stood locked in a heated argument with a blonde woman, though whether it was a real argument or not Ray neither knew nor cared. An elderly couple in matching track suits was walking along the sidewalk brusquely, enjoying the city in the morning. Ray reasoned to himself that he would appreciate Chicago more if he didn't have to be at work at this ungodly hour of the morning. As though to justify his opinion on the ridiculousness of his schedule, the first drop of sun peeked through the clouds at that very moment. _I hate work_, Ray complained furiously to himself as he rounded the corner and entered the ambulance bay. His pager beeped once again; this time, the message was more urgent. The words, "GET YOUR ASS IN HERE, THIS ISNT A JOKE!" scrolled across the electronic screen. With a roll of his eyes, Ray grudgingly picked up the pace and rushed up the steps to the ER entrance, pushed his way inside, and looked around. There seemed to be no emergency. Stalking over to the admit desk, he regarded Jerry with annoyance. "What was the big hurry?" he demanded after Jerry had blown his nose.

Jerry smiled in a way that, at this hour, gave Ray the impulse to punch him. "Just… making sure your pager still worked."

"Ughhh…" Ray groaned in a low voice as he made his way toward the staff lounge.

"To be fair, Barnett, you _are_ pretty late!" came the desk clerk's voice after him.

"Yeah, yeah…" Ray wandered into the lounge and over to his locker, throwing his trenchcoat and scarf onto two of the hooks and draping his white coat over his shoulder. He whipped his stethoscope out as well before slamming the locker door with his foot.

"What's wrong with you?" inquired Abby as she entered the room.

"Exhausted," Ray responded, grabbing a mug and pouring the hot black coffee into it. He added a little sugar, but no cream. "Are we slow this morning?"

"As far as I've seen," Abby replied, opening her locker and fishing around in her purse. "I've been on since four."

"Ouch," Ray sympathized. "Shouldn't you be on maternity leave or something?"

"Not as long as I'm standing." She found the vitamin water she was looking for and took a swig. "I can't wait until I can have caffeine again," she remarked, looking wistfully at the blue mug in Ray's hand.

He smirked. "Not missing much. It's as bitter and tasteless as usual." He took another long sip.

"Yeah, but at least it gets you going in the morning." She chuckled and swallowed some more vitamin water. "Not like this stuff."

"What _is_ that, anyway?"

"Vitamin water… it's good… it just doesn't do much in the way of energizing me."

"Why is it red?"

"God knows." Abby smiled.

At that moment, they heard a great sneeze from the hallway, and then Jerry poked his head into the room. "Abby, Luka's on the phone for you."

Abby scrunched her eyebrows together in disbelief. "I… just talked to him an hour ago?"

Jerry shrugged in response and left the room, leaving Abby to throw up her hands, take another drink of her vitamin water, and throw it at Ray. "Can you put that in the fridge for me?"

"Sure." He smiled in formality and watched her leave the lounge.

Checking the time, he saw that it was 7:22 AM. Tracing Abby's steps, Ray left the lounge with his coffee cup in hand, yelling to Jerry, "Hey! Do you need me right now?"

Jerry consulted the board quickly. "Uhh… actually, not at the moment… although, my ear's been bothering me a little, it keeps cracking when I go to pop it…"

"Stop blowing your nose so hard, then," Ray replied, and then added, "I'm gonna go get some breakfast. Page me…"

"Oh, I will," Jerry called after him as he boarded the conveniently waiting elevator, then sneezed again.

"If you _need_ me!" Ray clarified as the doors slid shut in front of him.

The cafeteria was as dead as the ER that morning. _Maybe the cold damn weather keeps the hypochondriacs away_, Ray hypothesized as he asked the cook for scrambled eggs.

He settled at a corner table and ate his eggs quickly, consciously aware of the monotony of this routine. He was sick of his routine, the dark mornings and the late nights, not to mention the lack of any actual personal human interaction in his life. Sure, he had come to care about his patients more as he gained experience, but outside of his work, his human contact was slim to none. He had become a better doctor, but he was not at all who he used to be. He was not the same as his friends anymore; he couldn't really care less about who could drink the most whiskey the fastest or who could stay up the latest. He was a "grown-up" now, and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.

On his way out of the cafeteria, Ray thought that maybe this was who he was supposed to be. Perhaps all those years of constant partying, lack of real guidance, and frivolous activities were supposed to show him now what was really important in life. The next consecutive moment, he shook that thought off with the decision that this was all really too deep for 7:37 on a Monday morning.

Upon returning to the ER, Jerry nodded to the board, which was now dotted with names. "You can take Johnson in sutures, Burke in exam three, or Knox in exam four."

"Which one's the hottest?" Ray joked, picking up a pen.

"Knox, no contest." Jerry half handed, half threw the chart at him. "Be good."

"Always." Ray set off for the room, entered, and regarded the young woman sitting, somewhat ill at ease, on the edge of the bed. There was something familiar about her, though he couldn't sense what. "Miss Knox? I'm Ray Barnett."

She looked up and smiled courteously. "I'm Gwendolyn Knox. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Ray replied, and that was no lie. Miss Gwendolyn Knox was a sight his bloodshot eyes didn't mind examining. She had long dark blonde hair and big green eyes. Her smile was somewhat addictive. "What seems to be the problem this morning?"

"Oh…" She looked a little embarrassed at this. "Well, this morning I was rushing to work, and on the El some of my coffee spilled on me…" At this point, she indicated one sleeve of her light blue blouse, the lower part of which was splattered with coffee stains.

"Well, let's take a look," Ray suggested, drawing the curtain around them.

"It's really just my forearm," Gwendolyn Knox explained. "I felt silly coming in here with that sort of complaint, but the stinging wouldn't stop."

"It's quite all right," Ray replied. "It's better to be safe than sorry, you know?"

"I suppose so." Gwendolyn smiled, grateful that he understood.

Ray rolled up her sleeve to her elbow and regarded her arm. "You did a good job burning yourself there, Miss Knox. How hot was this coffee?"

"Hmm… I had just recently bought it, and I didn't get a chance to drink any yet."

"Your skin's pretty messed up." Ray crouched down to examine it more closely.

"Will I live?" Gwendolyn Knox joked.

Ray couldn't hold back a smile at this. "The prognosis is grim," he returned, "but I think you'll be able to make a recovery."

How'd you feel about it? Next chapter will hopefully be up soon! )


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, everyone! Here's the second installment of "The Distance." Now, it may seem like I only want to write about their encounters, but that's not how it's going to stay. I just want the audience to learn as much about her as possible early on. Anyway, sorry it's been so long between updates; I've been busy lately (and by lately, i mean... always.)! But I'm going to try not to let a space of longer than 2 weeks come between installments. Anyway, keep those reviews coming, please, and I hope you enjoy it! D

Chapter 2 – The Second Encounter

About a week later, Ray rushed out of County shortly after midnight and braced himself against the vigorous gusts of wind. He shoved his gloved hands deep into his pockets, securing his long coat tightly around his body. Silently ticking off the hours until his next shift – roughly 15 – Ray sighed, not really annoyed because of work, but quietly wishing he had more time to sleep and get things done in between shifts. He had just come off a 12-hour shift, and he was back on for 10 hours at 3 tomorrow afternoon. _Well, actually, _this_ afternoon_, he realized, and a quick check at his cell phone clock confirmed that it was about 8 minutes after midnight. Since he seemed on a roll with math, Ray then estimated his ETA at home – approximately 13 more minutes – and calculated how long it would take him to shower and fall into bed. When all was said and done, Ray expected that he would be asleep by 12:45 AM. Since he had to be back on at 3 PM, Ray actually cracked a smile at the thought that he could sleep for a solid 12 hours if he wanted to. _Maybe this day won't be so bad after all… it's only 10 minutes into it and I already have something to look forward to._

Starting up the stairs to the El station, Ray's pager began to beep. He glanced at the screen and groaned as the words, "Get back here ASAP, we have hazing victims coming in!" scrolled across the screen. "You can_not_ be serious," Ray said out loud, staring at the pager. As if on cue, the message scrolled across again. Annoyed, Ray blew air out of his nostrils and spun around, starting down the steps again. As he reached the first landing, Ray heard a scuffling sound and a light thud and squinted down the dimly-lit, inclined corridor. He saw a red-clad figure stagger to its feet at the bottom of the stairs, and rushed toward it as he noticed how much it struggled. As he neared the figure, Ray called out, "Hey, are you all right?"

The figure turned, still grasping the railing, and looked up at Ray. At first, he could not see the person's face, but as his eyes adjusted, he recognized it immediately. "Miss Knox?"

The corners of Gwendolyn Knox's mouth turned up in a half-smile which reached her eyes, but failed to fill them. "Dr. Barnett. It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise," he responded, and then looked with concern at her stance. "Are you all right?"

Gwendolyn Knox glanced at the railing, which her hands had never left. She looked sheepish. "Yes, I'm all right. I – you see, I twisted my ankle earlier tonight when I was walking home – high heels on the ice – and it just hasn't stopped bothering me. I thought I should maybe get it checked out, and coming down these last few steps I slipped."

Ray nodded. "These steps can be tricky. I slip all the time. Were you on your way to County?"

Gwendolyn nodded back. "Yes… I figured I should get one of those Ace bandages, at least. It's been a little swollen and bruised… and very tender."

"I see," said Ray, taking mental notes on how she was standing. Miss Knox leant against the railing more as time passed, and he noticed that she put no weight at all on her ankle. He began to worry that she had a sprain. "We should get it checked out immediately; neglecting a potential injury is one of the worst moves a person can make." He nodded back in the direction of County. "May I assist you?"

She bit her lip gently and glanced up the El stairs, where he had come from. "Weren't you on your way to the El?"

Ray raised his eyebrows in irony. "Well, I _was_. Until I got a page from County telling me they needed me back to the hospital immediately. Which is why I was on my way back down when I noticed you struggling."

Gwendolyn nodded slowly. "I see. Well, I would hate for you to have to stay out later than necessary."

Ray smiled, trying to hide his real amusement. "Ma'am, I'm a doctor; that's my job. We're supposed to go… 'above and beyond'… or something," he concluded as he watched Gwendolyn's smile change from courteous to authentic. "Now let's try and get you to the ER. I see you can't, or don't want to, put weight on that ankle."

"Well, I can… just not too much. I was moving very slowly on my way here."

"All right," Ray conceded. "A little weight, then. Here-" he picked up one of her arms and slung it around his shoulder, supporting her back with his arm. "Just take your time; we're only a block or so away, and I'll go as slow as you need to."

Gwendolyn looked like she felt a little guilty. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Can you still put a little weight on it?"

Biting her lip again, this time in concentration, Gwendolyn Knox tested it out. Ray felt her tense as she used that ankle, and he held her up as best she could. "Okay?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's fine." They set off toward County. After a few steps, the genre of silence was tough to categorize. Did they know each other well enough for it to be an awkward silence? Was it a comfortable, concentrated silence? Should someone make small talk? Gwendolyn took the latter route. "So, did you just get off of work?"

"Yeah, I was off at midnight. I'm back on at 3 tomor- this afternoon."

"Isn't it hard, working crazy hours like that? I'm a 9-to-5 girl."

Ray squinted a little in thought. "No, it's not too bad. It's just that I – I mean, we all – work some long shifts. Usually mine are no more than 14 or 15 hours… but some of the residents and interns are on for 24 hours or more. And only getting usually half your shift time in between shifts, and along with being on-call half the time you're off anyway, it just gets hectic and tiring."

Gwendolyn raised her eyebrows. "24 hours? I can't even stay _awake_ for 24 hours. How do you treat patients for a whole day?"

"I'll let you in on a small secret, if you promise not to tell anyone," Ray said in a low voice. Gwendolyn's green eyes widened slightly in anticipation. She nodded. Ray held back a smile and divulged, "We don't _really_ stay awake and work for the whole 24 hours. We take naps." As Gwendolyn cracked a smile which turned into a pained grimace, Ray hurried to add, "Don't tell anyone. We doctors like to pretend that we can stay up for a whole day and save lives. But the truth is, we're just as lazy and exhaust-able as anyone else."

The smile returned, and Ray wondered for a brief moment why he had rushed ahead with his joke to see it again. The next moment, she spoke. "That's good to know. I always thought doctors were like superheroes, anyway. It's nice to know that they're human, too."

Ray smiled, glancing at her briefly and then returning to watching the sidewalk as they neared County. "Yes, we are. So how's the ankle?"

"Not so great," she admitted. "It hurts pretty badly."

"I can see it in your face," Ray acknowledged, then wished he hadn't. "I mean, when you take a step. You grimace a little."

If Gwendolyn felt as awkward about what Ray had just said as he did, she showed no signs of it. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's okay; we're getting close, right?" She turned her big green eyes on him.

Ray paused, confused, and then realized what she meant. "Yeah – yeah, we're getting close. To, to, uh, County." He smiled, a brief, courteous, tight, smile, and trained his eyes once again on the sidewalk as they rounded the corner to the ambulance bay.

"We were closer than I thought," Gwendolyn remarked, then shivered. "It's absolutely freezing out here!"

"Ughhh, I know," Ray sympathized, then turned his attention, for the first time since he initially noticed Gwendolyn, to her coat. "This is quite a coat you have here."

Gwendolyn glanced down at her long, tailored peacoat. It was a bright, maraschino-cherry red. "It is, isn't it?" She paused and laughed. "My friends call me Little Red Riding Hood."

Ray laughed at this as they reached the bottom of the steps, and Gwendolyn stopped. "How do you want to get up there?" he asked, as the distant wail of sirens came quietly into his head; _The hazing victims must be on their way._

Gwendolyn bit her lip once again. "Umm… Do you think I can walk?"

"Well," Ray advised, "you might be able to. But… that doesn't necessarily mean you should; it would probably do you more harm than anything else."

She sighed. "I was afraid of that. … Well, maybe I should lean on the railing?" Her eyes traveled to the steps as an exceptionally strong gust of wind whipped her blonde ponytail forward.

Ray raised his eyebrows. "Why don't you just put as much weight as you can on me?" he asked. "Really, that's probably the best thing you can do for your ankle right now, until you can elevate it."

"Okay," Gwendolyn agreed, somewhat relieved. She took a deep breath and leaned against him, slowly advancing up the steps. After the second step, Ray wrapped his arm the rest of the way around her middle and lifted her weight off of the ground, carefully transporting her up the steps and depositing her on the landing at the top. Gwendolyn finally let out her deep breath. "Thanks," she said, a little sheepishly again.

"No problem," said Ray sincerely. The electronic door slid open, and they made their way inside to the warm air.

(Hmm. A little suspicious, maybe...?)


End file.
